Chapter 885 – First landing tests
The continental flying ship had no issue shrugging off the Northern Sect, making things exceptionally easy.
"You know what...?" Moon Aiko tilted her head.
"What?" Mei was curious what Aiko was up to this time.
"I think they are just scouts." Moon Aiko didn't believe they would be THAT stupid.
"Scouts? As in, we couldn't find them, so let's make a few dozen makeshift flying ships so we can surround them and find them?" Mei's lips twitched by just saying that ridiculous sentence, but Aiko was convinced that was the case.
"They can't be THAT stupid. Sure, they invaded the Fox Village, lost several flying ships and-" Moon Aiko suddenly paused. "You know what? Forget that I said anything." Recounting what happened made her feel like they were possibly THAT stupid.
"I don't think Aiko is that wrong." Dai Lu pursed her lips.
"..." Mei paused for a moment. "You think so?"
"They should have their own Divinator, so it should be possible." Dai Lu was convinced they were just scouts, as Aiko said.
"So we will have better flying ships coming our way?" Mei didn't think so. There was a limit on how many flying ships they could sacrifice and since the continental flying ships were wrecked, it was unlikely that they would try to retaliate with other flying ships.
At best, what they could do was to wait and ambush them from below or above through Void Steps or similar Movement Technique.
"I think so." Dai Lu nodded her head. "What about them?" It seemed like that was the Western Sect, but she could be wrong.
"Could the Northern Sect borrow flying ships from the other Sects...?" Mei suddenly had a wild thought considering the design of the other flying ships.
"That's..." Dai Lu pursed her lips. If that was true, the Northern Sect was very nasty.
If they shot down the flying ships, the Western Sect might take issue with it and try to bully them into giving some Treasures back for their losses.
"I think they are stupid. Just shoot them, it's not like we are allies or neutral, they were the ones to invade, so we will be the ones to take things from them." It was very obvious that Moon Aiko was not amused by their machinations, and she wished for them to just go away and not return.
And if they did return, it would be nicer if they brought something of higher value than what they already did.
The conversation kept going like this. From them being stupid to them being smart, it was hard to figure out what was actually happening.
"Should we test the short range defences?" Dai Lu suggested, since it was still on the menu for them to do.
"Not a bad idea. Let's just ignore them and make them come closer, that way we can stress test it." Mei liked that suggestion, since she didn't have to think about them being good or bad.
...
However, those flying ships would eventually turn around and disappear.
"Should I have shot them down?" Dai Lu asked Mei cautiously.
"It's fine." Mei waved her hand, unfortunately she couldn't test anything and the Floating Stones even ran away, which was unfortunate.
Moon Aiko observed the surroundings again and kept checking the ground, just in case Nero got lost.
However, that wolf kept going at an alarming speed and whenever she would catch up to them, she would then rest for a while before sprinting again.
'She is full of energy.' Moon Aiko was impressed by her speed and endurance, but it was questionable if she will be able to maintain this until the sea.
"We will soon fly down to check the continental flying ship."
Moon Aiko suddenly caught that sentence from Mei. "Fly down?"
"En, we need to see if anything is broken. We should've already landed down and tested it, but since those pests came over, we are stretching the stress test further." Mei shrugged. So far, everything worked and was very responsive, so there was no worry about something suddenly breaking... probably.
For now, the continental flying ship was really well-made, so much so that Mei didn't worry too much about it.
"More flying ships." Moon Aiko pointed to the left of their continental flying ship.
"That's the Southern Sect." Dai Lu could see it from a greater distance than anyone, thanks to her Sword Heart.
"Visitors?" Mei was curious what they might want, but... "Let's test our short distance defences." There was no need for the Southern Sect to meet them, so she would assume they were here for a fight.
"Is that fine?" Moon Aiko didn't want to anger the Southern Sect, since she had quite a good relationship with them.
"They won't notice we are actually taking them as enemies. The continental flying ship was made that way, so we will be fine." Mei chuckled.
"Oh, fascinating." Moon Aiko smiled. She wanted to disassemble the continental flying ship and have a closer look, but that would have to wait once again...
...
"The Southern Sect is maintaining distance." Dai Lu commented.
"They probably saw the sorry excuse of the flying ship that is still following us and are worried we will shoot them down." Mei shrugged, walking over to the middle of the deck and setting down a table with chairs.
"Come, join me. It's not like we will land any time soon." Mei didn't mind it, at least the test will be longer and more thorough.
"That sounds lovely." Moon Aiko smiled and joined Mei. Dai Lu also reluctantly joined, but she was still a bit wary of the Northern Sect.
Why didn't they shoot them down? Because they were still useful. If Mei could lure more Southern Sect's flying ships, then that's for the better.
...
The group enjoyed a lovely tea, when suddenly, Chen Shi came over.
"I think we should land soon, some of the Inscriptions are lighting up weirdly." He suggested it, before noticing the flying ships.
"Do we have company?" He was concerned since this flying ship was not tested enough yet.
"You don't have to worry, we will land soon." Mei nodded her head. She was already planning to do that, but there was something funny about this situation.
'The Foxes won't follow us out, so we don't have to worry about kidnapping. Everyone is pretty content with what they have, and I even heard that the cafeteria is their favourite place thanks to all those weapons and Treasures.' Mei chuckled. Moon Aiko knew how to attract the attention of those Foxes.
"Okay." Chen Shi nodded his head as Chen Yanqi came over.
"I'm thinking about stretching my wings." Chen Yanqi stretched her body, her voluptuous body jiggling alluringly.
"You can do that, just try to not shoot down any flying ships, we still have use for them." Mei didn't mind it. She understood that being stifled inside was not too good, but fortunately, the Foxes were very cooperative.
"Going for a ride?" Moon Aiko smirked at them.
"No, I really need to stretch my back." However, Chen Yanqi immediately shot down Aiko's teasing question.
"You are no fun." Moon Aiko pouted.
"Well, I'm in pain, so..." Chen Yanqi shrugged before jumping off the flying ship.
"She is quite wild." Moon Aiko didn't remember her being like that.
"We will be landing soon." Mei gestured to Chen Shi.
"I will prepare the tools for inspection." Chen Shi nodded his head as he went inside.
"But so far, everything works well, no?" Moon Aiko was a bit concerned that they would be stranded again.
Well, they were already in the middle part of the Nightmare Forest, so that shouldn't be an issue, but it was still better if they didn't need to land in here for too long.
"Some things need adjustments. The continental flying ship is ever so slightly tilted, so we have to remedy that." Mei gestured at the special bubble hourglass.
And as expected, the bubble inside was slightly to the side.
"It's not because of this table?" Moon Aiko didn't think it was tilted, or at least she didn't notice anything.
"It's very subtle, and it's not because of this table." Mei shook her head. She already tested it when they were leaning against the railing.
"Could it be because of the storage or distribution of rooms for Foxes?" Moon Aiko tilted her head. She wanted to know a bit more about this for future reference.
"You know what Chen Shi said about the flashing Inscriptions? They might be the sensitive kind, so if we adjust the tilt of the ship, we should also solve those Inscriptions." Mei smiled gently at Aiko.
"Wait, why not make Inscriptions more robust?" Moon Aiko tilted her head.
"There is a limit to how much you can fit, and you also have to keep in mind the limit of the material itself. We had to recycle the other flying ships and even include some new wood to make everything work. It's possible that some of that wood has already degraded since it was not rated for this use." Mei shrugged. She didn't worry too much as replacing stuff was easier than rebuilding.
Fortunately, Chen Shi made this whole continental flying ship very modular. Things could be modified, removed and replaced without too many issues. The only thing that was seriously 'attached', would be the hull and deck, to prevent the huge ship from snapping in half.
"Right..." Moon Aiko nodded her head. She knew about that, but she thought the continental flying ship had more robust materials which would allow all of that, but she was mistaken.
'I will have to be careful.' Moon Aiko worried she might break something fragile.
"You don't have to worry too much, most of those parts are hidden from everyone, so you won't be able to encounter it." Mei chuckled, patting Aiko's back.
"Are you underestimating my luck?" Moon Aiko pursed her lips and Mei stiffened.
"No?" Mei coughed awkwardly. She just hoped that Aiko's 'luck' wouldn't trigger during this journey...
...
"Phew." Moon Aiko jumped down onto the solid ground. It was nice to be able to walk and talk again without huffing and puffing the clouds.
The forest was nice, the rocky terrain below the continental flying ship was also nice, and the air was fresh too~!
"That's one of the reasons why you should fly low." Mei chuckled as she stretched too.
"I didn't think there would be such a difference." Moon Aiko seriously nodded her head. The more things she knew, the wilder and more complex everything became.
She was a bit worried about this whole continental flying ship, so just to make sure nothing went wrong, she didn't try to walk around and see if everything was working...